St. Louis and Savannah trip meeting for all planning to attend following bike ride

JUNE CALENDAR

12-Board Meeting 6:00 pm

17-Tandem bicycling, 2:00 pm Cherokee Blvd; RSVP to Sue

29-July 2-ACB Convention, Louisville

Pool Party-watch for date to be announced

WHAT IS NEW THIS MONTH ON OUR BLOG PAGE?

BLIND SKILLS YOU DIDN'T KNOW YOU HAD

When most people think of losing their vision, I imagine, after thinking of all the things they wouldn't be able to do, the next thoughts are of how they could never learn to make the adjustment. To be sure, there is a learning curve in mastering Braille or mobility skills; but, believe it or not, some of the basics in making that transition involve things you already know how to do. Continue reading

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NEWS

INTRODUCING OUR PLATINUM PARTNER, DELTA GAMMA FRATERNITY

Since the early days of Club VIBES, we have received support from the Delta Gamma Fraternity at UT that has helped us become the active and successful club that we are today.The philosophy of Delta Gamma is built on a foundation of fostering high ideals of friendship, promoting educational and cultural interests, a true sense of social responsibility and developing the best qualities of character, Delta Gamma Fraternity is a women's organization on UT campus with more than 180 initiated members.

The members of Delta Gamma are tireless fundraisers which has made many of our programs possible including tandem bicycling trips to California, Washington DC and the upcoming trips to Savannah and the American Federation of the Blind Conference. In addition, they devote many hours of their time hosting holiday parties, serving as mentors to our members, helping us stay fit by walking with us each week, and recently providing "how to" sessions on mastering social media such as Twitter. We also enjoy just hanging with members of DG at events like Movie Night on the Mall where they provide audio descriptions of the movie. They take their motto "Do Good" most seriously!

Thank you to Delta Gamma for all that you do for Club VIBES!

VIBES IN THE MARATHON

Photo: marathon runners

We are proud of the Club VIBES members and their volunteer guides who participated in (and finished) the Covenant Health Half Marathon on March 25. We recognize Jacoby Yarboro, Ryne Goodrich, Marian Wildgruber, and Sue Buckley for the hard work they put into training and completing this challenging event. Ryne has qualified for a marathon relay in California. We are also proud of Paige who competed in the children's marathon, and crossed the finish line in Neyland Stadium on March 24. Keep watching for their next accomplishments.

GOOD NEWS

Our planning continues for our trip to the American Council of the Blind Conference June 29-July 2. In addition to attending the sessions at the conference we will be meeting our competition in the National Fitness Challenge, the team from St Louis. They kept pushing us but we managed to keep the lead. We look forward to putting people with the statistics.

POOL PARTY

Photo: dog with sunglasses floating in pool

Plans are underway for our annual pool party fundraiser. Again, our gracious hosts, Margaret and Curtis Holmes are offering us the use of their beautiful pool for an afternoon laying around and floating in the cool, refreshing water. For the price of a ticket and a dish to share, guests will

Photo: beachball floating in pool

enjoy a delicious main dish along with potluck side dishes brought by guests. Watch for ticket information. This party is for adults only and the number sold is limited and usually sells out so to avoid disappointment, don't wait to save your spot.

Photo: Slice of watermelon and glass of icy punch

THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS NEEDEDTravis and Jamie are volunteer walkers and proud parents of a baby girl who is undergoing open heart surgery at Vanderbilt University on April 24. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.

MEMBERS CORNER

YOUNG PROFFESSIONALS

The young professionals have been hard are at work improving our social media skills while maintaining our fitness! From learning more about connecting with the world around us through Twitter by using hash tags, to messaging apps like Groupie, to strolling Sue's neighborhood in mobs for an evening walk, the young professionals have been on the move. For those of you who use Twitter, we hope you will begin following us and when joining us for activities, we hope you will tag us using the hash tag #clubVIBESKnox. We hope to create a better social media presence with this label. Even if Twitter is not your pleasure, please feel free to use this tag on Facebook. Our goal is to generate as much media attention for Club VIBES as we can.

You may have also heard some commotion about a messaging app known as GroupMe. If not, then you will soon. We are looking at ways to better communicate with club members as a whole as to what activities and events are coming up with Club Vibes, and that will be through GroupMe, a messaging platform that allows the individual a way to create group messages other than using MMS (multi-media messaging service).

Lastly, we have been gathering at Sue's for a walk around the neighborhood while hoping not to alarm her neighbors from all of the blind folks and ladies from Delta Gamma serving as guides and companions. It has been a truly rewarding time, and we hope more will join us. I don't believe we have caused enough of a ruckus yet in Sue's neighborhood. We have been meeting on Wednesdays at 6pm, and for some reason, once people come, they keep coming to young professional events. Here's to catching up with us next time.

THANK YOU JACOBY

Thanks to Jacoby, for his articles that keep us up to date on what is going on with the Young Professionals.

FUNDRAISING

SPRING FLOWER SALE

Thanks to all who supported our spring fundraiser. It is with your help that we are able to offer the number of programs including the upcoming trips to the American Council of the Blind and Savannah. It is through trips like these that our members are provided an opportunity to develop skills in independence that will encourage them to venture out beyond their close to home comfort zone.

The flowers will arrive at the Buckley's on April 30. They can be picked up between 12:00 pm and 7:00 pm.

Enjoy your beautiful hanging baskets!

BELK CHARITY SALE

There is still time to get your Belk ticket and get some great deals at Belk's charity sale while supporting Club VIBES. If the ticket is purchased directly from VIBES, we get the entire $5.00. We also benefit if you purchase the ticket at the door. The sale is May 5 from 6:00 am - 10:00 am at Belk's Turkey Creek and Belk's West Town.

TECH NEWS

WHAT IS AIRA?

Aira calls itself a "visual interpreter for the blind," enabling users to explore the world in augmented ways using an eclectic and robust collection of technologies and services. It combines wearable smart glasses with an embedded video camera paired with a smartphone, a portable WiFi hotspot, and a network of live certified agents who assist the user remotely in real-time. The trained agents see the world through the smart glasses worn by the customer and describe the view. Learn More